The Department for Education is currently drafting statutory guidance for schools to support their new duty to secure independent careers guidance for pupils in years 9-11. The guidance will be published in the Spring Term with the new duty effective from September 2012.

Statutory Guidance for Schools on Careers Guidance for Young People

About this guidance

1. This is statutory guidance from the Department for Education. This means that recipients must have regard to it when carrying out duties relating to the provision of careers guidance for young people.

2. The purpose of this guidance is to identify the key responsibilities of schools in relation to careers guidance for young people. The Government is clear that it expects schools to become more accountable for the successful progression of pupils to further education, higher education and skilled employment. This is principally determined by the quality of our schools and the levels of attainment pre-16. However, schools have a key role to play in supporting their pupils to make informed decisions by providing access to independent information and guidance about the education and training options that are most likely to get young people into their preferred course, or the qualifications that employers most value. This information will become increasingly important as young people will be required to participate in education or training until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 from 2013, and to their 18th birthday from 2015.

3. Apart from the elements identified here, it is for schools to decide what careers guidance provision to make available based on the needs of pupils. Schools should meet the costs of provision from their overall budgets which are generally unringfenced in line with the Government’s commitment to provide head teachers with the flexibility to use their resources in ways that best meet their needs.

4. This guidance should be read in conjunction with ‘The Education Bill – changes to the delivery of careers guidance’, a document made available to schools in April 2011.

What legislation does this guidance relate to?

5. This guidance is being issued under section 45A of Part VII of the Education Act 1997 and schools must have regard to it.

Who is this guidance for?

6. Secondary schools and pupil referral units.

Background

7. The Education Act 2011 places schools under a duty to secure access to independent careers guidance for their pupils from September 2012. Schools will be free to make arrangements for careers guidance that fit the needs and circumstances of their students, and will be able to engage, as appropriate, in partnership with external, expert providers.
8. Once the duty on schools has been commenced, there will be no expectation that local authorities will provide a universal careers service, although their statutory responsibility under section 68 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 to encourage, enable and assist the participation of young people in education or training, remains unchanged.

Statutory duty

9. The Education Act 2011 inserts a new duty, section 42A, into Part VII of the Education Act 1997, requiring schools to secure access to independent careers guidance for pupils in years 9-11. Guidance must be presented in an impartial manner and promote the best interests of the pupils to whom it is given. Guidance should also include information on options available in respect of 16-18 education or training, including apprenticeships.

Responsibilities of schools

10. The Government's general approach is to give schools greater freedom and flexibility to decide how to fulfil their statutory duties in accordance with the needs of their pupils. However, there is an expectation that schools will have regard to the following guidance when deciding on the most appropriate forms of independent careers guidance:

Assuring the quality of external providers of careers guidance

11. Schools may work individually or in partnership to procure face-to-face services. Schools can commission independent careers guidance from providers engaged in delivering the National Careers Service or with other providers, as they see fit. The Skills Funding Agency will require providers of the National Careers Service to be accredited to the revised version of the Matrix Quality Standard by April 2013. The Standard will assist schools in making well informed decisions about which providers to work with. Emqc Ltd, the organisation responsible for administering the Matrix Quality Standard on behalf of government, will provide schools with information about which organisations are suitably accredited.

12. The Careers Profession Alliance (CPA), an umbrella organisation of five professional career associations, is developing professional standards and qualifications and a progression framework for careers professionals. This will also include a national register of careers guidance practitioners. Within the Matrix Standard, there is a specific requirement that in order to meet the quality standards, organisations who employ careers guidance staff in England should adhere to the professional qualifications and standards as determined by the CPA. Securing access to face-to-face careers guidance

13. In fulfilling their new duty, schools should secure access to independent face-to-face careers guidance where it is the most suitable support, in particular for disadvantaged children and those with special educational needs and disabilities. Increased complexity and competition in education and labour markets means that some young people would benefit far more from face-to-face guidance to help guide them through the wealth of information and options available. Face-to-face guidance can offer the opportunity for a qualified careers adviser to explore how a young person’s circumstances, abilities, interests and aspirations may impact on their decision making about future learning and career options.

Providing careers education for young people

14. The requirement for schools to provide a programme of careers education (section 43 of Part VII of the Education Act 1997) will be repealed as the Government does not consider it is necessary to legislate for this. The removal of this provision does not imply that careers education is unimportant. Schools should recognise that the range of activities encompassed within the term ‘careers education’ are important in contextualising the careers guidance on offer to pupils, supporting the development of decision making and career management skills. Schools should consider how these activities are best delivered, taking into account the particular needs of their pupils.

15. An example of beneficial wider careers activity is engagement with local employers to offer young people insights into the world of work. Schools should decide on the most appropriate forms of engagement but might consider mentoring, workplace visits, enterprise clubs and employer talks.

Ensuring adequate support for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities

16. Schools will have responsibility for securing access to independent careers guidance for all their pupils, including those with special educational needs (SEN) or disabilities. Pupils should receive impartial advice about all of the mainstream education and training opportunities on offer, regardless of their individual circumstances. Schools should work closely with local authorities who have an important role to play, in particular through the provision of SEN support services.

Working with local authorities

17. Local authorities will retain their duty to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training. They are also expected to have arrangements in place to check that 16 and 17 year olds have received an offer of a suitable place in post-16 education or training, and this will become increasingly important as the participation age is raised.

18. To enable local authorities to do this, they will continue to track young people's participation through the local Client Caseload Information System (CCIS) in order to identify those who are at risk of not participating post-16, or are in need of targeted support. Schools should work with local authorities to support them in recording young people's post-16 plans and the offers they receive along with their current circumstances and activities.

19. Section 72 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 requires all schools to provide relevant information about pupils to local authority support services. Schools should also work in partnership with local authorities to ensure they know what services are available, and how young people can be referred. The legislation being put in place in 2013 to raise the participation age will place a duty on schools to notify local authorities whenever a 16 or 17 year old leaves learning.

Working with local learning providers

20. Schools have a responsibility to act impartially and recognise where it may be in the best interests of some pupils to pursue an apprenticeship or college course, for example. Schools should therefore maintain links with local post-16 learning providers, including further education colleges and work-based training providers, to ensure that young people are aware of the full range of academic and vocational options.

21. Schools should arrange visits for 14-16 year olds to local colleges, training providers and universities and invite those institutions into the school to provide information about the courses on offer. This can be supplemented by local college and training provider prospectuses being made available to pupils to assist informed decision making.

Sources of good practice and useful contacts

22. In making arrangements to secure access to independent careers guidance for young people, schools may find it helpful to look at examples of good practice in this area. A set of case studies are available on the Local Government Association's Communities of Practice website. This site will continue to be developed as further examples of good practice are identified.

23. Useful sources of information:

- Association for Careers Education and Guidance - http://www.aceg.org.uk/
- Education and Employers Task Force - http://www.educationandemployers.org/
- Institute for Education Business Excellence - https://www.iebe.org.uk/
- Institute of Career Guidance - http://www.icg-uk.org/
- Learning and Skills Improvement Service - http://www.lsis.org.uk/
- National Apprenticeship Service - http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/
- National Citizen Service - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/Workandcareers/Workexperi • PSHE Association - http://www.pshe-association.org.uk/ • Supporting post-16 transition: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/inclusionandlearnersupport/b0077473/supporting-post-16-transition • Young People’s Online Careers Advice - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/index.htm

Participation Division Department for Education November 2011